And so do I. We're both in Neocon's club.

My affection for semicolons has led to complaints in the past, from other bloggers who felt that I truly abused these handy little punctuation marks.

They are wrong, though—my real vice is the em-dash, which can be used in much more flexible ways than the semicolon.

Via Althouse, blogging over at The Court of Insty.

Note: You think I'm joking? What do you imagine copyeditors talk about over lunch and dinner? Substance? Or style?

Note II: At the risk of being accused of too much free association before I even take my nightly Ambien, does anyone want to place this quote?

You could say she has an individual style;

She's part of a colorful time.

Q: What sort of person actually inserts quotation marks into the song lyrics he or she quotes?

A: A copyeditor, of course.

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ABC News has the scoop:

[Wesleyan Center for Strategic Studies Co-Founder Phillip] Knight, who says he has prayed with Thompson and his wife, Jeri, believes Thompson has been "mischaracterized" by Christian conservative leader, Dr. James Dobson, who questioned Thompson's faith and candidacy in an email a couple months ago.

Unfortunately, ABC News can't afford a proofreader for its website, so it ran the story with an extra comma before "Dr. James Dobson," and omitted the "of" in "a couple of months ago." But it's okay: the folks at ABC are just being colloquial. Illiterate, but colloquial.

There is also the issue of whether Mr. Knight (or Dr. Knight; I'm not sure) spells his first name with one L, or two. It appears both ways on the World Wide Web. But ABC may have that detail right. I would still, however, like to see some attention to grammar and punctuation from my news providers.

I'd also like to meet the Easter Bunny this coming spring, and shake his little paw. Anyone want to give me odds on that?

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Richard Manitoba points to this T-shirt as appropriate attire for those of us who are . . . well, a bit unyielding on issues of punctuation and language structure. (Except for the split infinitive thing, on which I'm extremely liberal: I figure English is a Germanic language, and the rhythm of a sentence is often superior when we T-bone that infinitive. Also, some infinitives really want to be split, deep down.)

But the "sic" pun leaves me cold. I like this hoodie, however. And this issue has been a linguistic pet peeve for decades.

But this one here says it all.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:04 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 $20+ for a t-shirt? Who can afford grammar these days?

Posted by: Darrell at November 05, 2007 10:27 PM (GnmHB)

2 I'm a former high school English teacher. Grammar mistakes are definitely peevish. I shudder when reading my stepkids' rough drafts of assignments for various classes, and realize they have had no formal grammar training probably since 5th grade. I love these shirts, and have put them on my Christmas list!

Posted by: Anne at November 06, 2007 07:53 AM (R/ik3)

3 As a joke, my sister uses the word "irregardful."

Posted by: Attila (Pillage Idiot) at November 06, 2007 02:32 PM (ztNrs)

4 Nice, Cuz.

Posted by: Attila Girl at November 06, 2007 04:40 PM (aywD+)

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Frank J rolls his own.

Via Cal Tech Girl

(That was a Google-bomb, BTW: I don't like "CalTech Girl." I want it to be "Cal Tech Girl." Who cares how she actually wants it to appear?—she's a scientist, and she should leave these delicate issues to a competent editor. Like, um . . . me.

From now on, please link her as Cal Tech Girl. Cal Tech should be two words.)

UPDATE: I've been vetoed! Apparently, Pasadena houses the California Institute of technology. Who knew?

But someone ought to tell the CS Department, nicht?

I have been given special dispensation to use "Dudette from the Land of the Nerds," but it's small consolation, really.

Apparently, things are almost as bad at the website for the Massachusetts Institute of technology, since in display type they use "mit," and in plain text it's MIT. Of course, at no point is it styled "MIt," which would be the equivalent of "Caltech."

Not that I'm an embittered English major who never gets her way, and has never truly accepted that it's The New York Times, but Los Angeles Times (no article required). Or why I once worked (I kid you not) at Hunting Magazine. (Why the capital "M," if the word Magazine isn't part of the name?)

Goodnight; I'm off to consume huge quantities of gin.

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1 Actually, NO. It's actually Caltechgirl. Caltech is ONE WORD. Really. And the T is NEVER capitalized. Check my blog. I NEVER capitalize the T. If it was multiple words it would be Cal Inst Tech, since the full name is California Institute of Technology. Just one of my pet peeves.

Posted by: caltechgirl at April 10, 2007 05:13 PM (r0kgl)

2 Hm. Okay. Let's think this through. Normally, the way a phrase evolves goes like this: two words, hyphenated compound, and then run together. For instance, 15 years ago I was a copy editor, and now in publishing circles I call myself a copyeditor. And I used to e-mail people, but now I generally email them. So perhaps after years of Cal Tech, it became Caltech (though I could see an argument for CalTech; I'm hoping Cal-Tech was skipped, due to its being egregiously ugly--though it probably was used adjectivally). However, there's no rule that dictates that the nickname would have to be Cal Inst Tech. For one thing, there are many ways of abbreviating California. For another, nicknames are weird: how did Robert beome Bob? How did William become Bill? The idea that all shortening of names follows the same pattern is incorrect. Of course, if you feel that strongly, I can certainly call you Caltechgirl. Except on those occasions when you decide to take the wrong side of an issue, when I would find myself "accidentally" breaking the name. Are you sure about this, though? After all, Caltech (yeech) modifies "girl." I still think there should be at least one break in there: it's a bit of a mouthful this way. Also, it's a proper noun. You want more capital letters. They make a name look more namelike.

Posted by: Attila Girl at April 10, 2007 08:16 PM (uSWaZ)

3 Well, Caltech is the preferred name that everyone on campus uses.... CalTech is right out. It is however, Tech if used with out the "Cal" Modifier.... Also previously referred to as the "Big T".... I'll go for Caltech Girl. That's acceptable. Just not CalTech Girl. Or Cal Tech Girl Or Caltech Gal. Interesting, the Firefox dictionary recognizes Caltech, but not CalTech...

Posted by: caltechgirl at April 10, 2007 08:22 PM (r0kgl)

4 CITeGirl No thanks necessary. . .

Posted by: Darrell at April 10, 2007 08:26 PM (QEkk2)

5 How about "Tech Chick from Oldmoneyville"? or "Biology Maven from Gambletown"? or "The Microscope Mistress from The Land of the Roses"? Whaaaaaat? Too wordy?

Posted by: Attila Girl at April 10, 2007 08:51 PM (uSWaZ)

6 ...btw, it's "California Institute of (capital T) Technology." 8-O

Posted by: leelu at April 11, 2007 08:45 PM (KFuCy)

7 Leelu! You missed the joke. I'm surprised at you. Let's not fall asleep at the switch again.

Posted by: Attila Girl at April 11, 2007 10:59 PM (6C0F9)

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I sort of like my verbiage in little bite-sized chunks. And they have to be separated somehow. But too many commas are, indeed, an aesthetic evil.

So I usually prefer—under most circumstance, mind you—to set some of the phrases off with em-dashes.

And the one rule in the Joy Style Guide is that series commas are our friends; the eye generally skips by that extra comma before the "and" or the "or," but when it needs it—well, it needs it badly.

So many things are that way.

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Verity Kindle objects over on this thread to the use of the word "papist" by someone who referred to themselves as a "recovering papist."

The problem being, as he/she sees it, that the word suggests we worship the Pope. Hey—I thought we worshipped the Virgin Mary. And the Saints. And golden calves. Guess I've been doing it all wrong.

You know how I am about language, though: making any word verboten goes against my grain, because it empowers that word and makes it more hurtful simply by being forbidden. So, once more: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits, nigger, kike, spic, faggot, skirt, heeb, whore, mick, lezzie, redneck, gook, chink, slut, wetback. Wingnut. Leftard. Papist.

(Now the Ann Coulter defenders are going to get on my case, on the basis that she only used a transgressive noun. That is not, of course, how I see it: I feel that she applied a perjorative term for homosexual—listed above—to a heterosexual, married man. In public. With cameras rolling. At an event I'd like to take itself more seriously than it sometimes does. So, yes: that was different.)

If anyone is entitled to use the term "papist," it would be a cradle Catholic, whether or not that person is still in the Church.

It's people of faith—Muslims, ironically, being sometimes an exception—who are marginalized the most in society today. I think we can take it as a given that any rocks being thrown around by the devout of any mainstream faith are either (1) done in a spirit of jest, or (2) the mark of idiots.

I can't define true religious slurs. But I know them when I see them.

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. . . that reading of any kind—whether online, or via dead tree—is like walking through that apple orchard in The Wizard of Oz? Typographical errors and incorrect word selections grab at one, tearing at one's clothing and sending one screaming away into the night.

Unless, of course, it's just me. Sigh.

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She called me names, and she called her dad."

—"Anything, Anything" (Dramarama)

This isn't a zeugma, but it is a syllepsis. I adore it. Here's another one, a true zeugma. Do you recognize it?

"Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey,
Dost sometimes counsel take—and sometimes tea."

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What am I reading now? Glad you asked.

It's a book about punctuation. However, because the decision was made not to Americanize the Stateside edition, the punctuation is all "wrong" in the eyes of the average Yankee copyeditor.

"Two people, divided by a common language."

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1 No. No proof there. Because ANY alien would be at least as confused by our punctuation habits as we are.

Posted by: k at May 05, 2006 06:12 AM (wZLWV)

2 What do the British know about our language! If it weren't for a lot of brave men and women, we'd all be speaking English! "The Kiwi, it is said, is the most anti-social bird in the bush, and no-one likes to invite it to parties, because, if it turns up at all, it just eats roots and leaves." Guys all over New Zealand are snickering now: Women are blushing.

Posted by: Darrell at May 05, 2006 08:29 AM (KEBp7)

3 Think we're divided by a common language? Check out Germany sometime. The northern dialects and the southern dialects do not exhibit a great deal of mutual intelligibility.

Posted by: John at May 05, 2006 06:14 PM (KTxHe)

4 Well, in that regard Americans and the English have far more in common than either have with some inhabitants of Scotland.

Posted by: Attila Girl at May 05, 2006 07:37 PM (34TBU)

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. . . discusses, once more, the crazy world of American book publishing. Very illuminating.

And depressing.

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Please bear in mind that up is not a verb; I don't care what worthless rag you're composing headlines or captions for.

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